Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'Ms Constance, who is standing again in Livingston, has an outside chance of getting elected if the SNP has a particularly good election. Although she failed to take the town's Westminster seat from Labour, she was regarded as a good candidate and has a track record as an active councillor in West Lothian.' Ian Swanson, Scottish Political Editor in the Evening News, 1 st July 2006.

Livingston (Lothians Region)

Candidates

	Evan Bell (Not standing on Lothians list)
	Liberal Democrat
	Evan Bell contested Oatridge ward of West Lothian Council in 2003. Recent electoral experience 2003 West Lothian Council election, Oatridge, 133 votes (7.06 %)
	David Brown (Not standing on Lothians list)
	Conservative & Unionist
	Fiona Houston was originally selected to contest Livingston, but moved to Edinburgh Central after Sir James (Jamie) William Stuart Whitemore Sempill, 21 st Lord Sempill stood down. The new Tory candidate here is David Brown. Recent electoral experience.
	Cllr Angela Constance (Also number 4 on Lothians list)
	Scottish National Party
	Cllr Angela Constance is the SNP Group Spokesperson for children services and lifelong learning on West Lothian Council. She was born in Blackburn and raised in Addiewell and West Calder. She attended local schools and completed her education at the Universities of Glasgow and Stirling. Angela is 34 years old and is currently employed as a Social Worker & Mental Health Officer. She continues to reside in West Lothian with her husband. She completed the Edinburgh marathon in 2004 raising money for a children's charity. Angela is Councillor for Carmondean Ward in the constituency and was re-elected for the third time in 2003 with an increased majority. Following the death of the Rt Hon Robin Cook, Angela Constance was the SNP candidate at the 2006 Livingston by-election with a swing to the SNP from Labour of 10.2 %. She is stepping down from West Lothian Council in 2003 in order to concentrate on winning Livingston from Labour. Recent electoral experience 2005 Westminster Parliament by-election, Livingston, 9,639 votes (32.70 %) 2005 Westminster Parliament election, Livingston, 9,560 votes (21.56 %) 2003 West Lothian Council election, Carmondean, 985 votes (56.1 %) (elected) 1999 Scottish Parliament election, 10 th on SNP Lothians list, 85,085 votes (25.74 %) 1999 West Lothian Council election, Carmondean, 1,012 votes (50.3 %) (elected) 1997 West Lothian Council by-election, Carmondean, 1,339 votes (48.0 %) (elected)
	Bristow Muldoon MSP (Not standing on Lothians list)
	Labour
	Bristow Muldoon was born on the 19 th of March 1964 in Glasgow and educated at Cumbernauld High School, Strathclyde University and the Open University where he graduated with a Glasgow BSc in Chemistry and a BArespectively. In 1986 he joined InterCity as a Management Trainee, becoming a Manager for InterCity in London between 1987 and 1989. From 1989-1996 he was Manager for InterCity East Coast and then Train Services Manager GNER, Edinburgh from 1996. From 1998-1999 he was a Business Analyst with GNER. Before his election to the Scottish Parliament, he was a West Lothian councillor. He is married and a member of the Transport Salaried Staff Association. In the parliament, he is Convener of the Local Government and Transport Committee. Ministerial positions none Recent electoral experience 2003 Scottlish Parliament election, Livingston, 13,327 votes (43.61 %) (elected) 1999 Scottlish Parliament election, Livingston, 17,313 votes (47.34 %) (elected) 1995 West Lothian Council election, Dendridge, 980 votes (55.15 %) (elected) 1994 Lothian Regional Council election, Dedridge/West Calder, 3,158 votes (55.86 %) (elected)
	Ernie Walker (Not standing on Lothianss list)
	Action to Save St John's Hospital
	Ernie Walker is a retired NHS Chief Executive. He is protesting against plans to transper services from St John's Hospital in Livingston to the Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary, including general surgery, trauma and orthpaedics. He is also standing for West Lothian Council. Recent electoral experience

Constituency profile

Assessment:

This assessment is based on the 2003 election results

Rank on Scottish National Party hit list: 14 (13 in 2003)
Swing required for Scottish National Party gain: 6.01 % from Labour to Scottish National Party

Rank on Conservative hit list: 50 (46 in 2003)
Swing required for Conservative gain: 17.15 % from Labour to Conservative

Rank on Liberal Democrat hit list: 34 (39 in 2003)
Swing required for Liberal Democrat gain: 17.37 % from Labour to Liberal Democrat

Correlation to the new Westminster constituencies

The electorate of 62,258 was split between the new Westminster constituencies of:
Livingston: 62,204 (99.9 %)
Linlithgow & Falkirk East: 54 (0.1 %)

Local Government wards in the constituency

Previous results

1 st May 2003 Holyrood Election - Constituency result

Electorate 65,421. Turnout 30,557, 46.71 % (- 12.22 %)
Logo	Party	Candidate	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	Bristow Muldoon MSP	13,327	43.61 %	- 3.74 %
	Scottish National Party	Cllr Peter Johnston	9,657	31.60 %	- 5.07 %
	Conservative &	Lindsay Paterson	2,848	9.32 %	+ 1.08 %
	Liberal Democrat	Paul McGreal	2,714	8.88 %	+ 0.64 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	Robert Richard	1,640	5.37 %	(+ 5.37 %)
	Scottish Peoples Alliance	Stephen Milburn	371	1.21 %	(+ 1.21 %)
	Labour hold	Labour majority	3,670	12.01 %	+ 1.33 %

1 st May 2003 Holyrood Election - Regional list result

Electorate 65,421. Turnout 30,518, 46.65 % 159 rejected ballot papers
Logo	Party	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	10,339	33.88 %	- 3.16 %
	Scottish National Party	7,605	24.92 %	- 9.15 %
	Margo MacDonald MSP (Independent)	2,704	8.86 %	(+ 8.86 %)
	Conservative & Unionist Party	2,582	8.46 %	- 0.51 %
	Scottish Green Party	1,974	6.47	+ 2.72 %
	Liberal Democrats	1,869	6.12 %	- 2.59 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	1,587	5.20 %	+ 3.63 %
	Pensioners's Party	689	2.26 %	(+ 2.26 %)
	Socialist Labour Party	395	1.29 %	- 2.45 %
	Liberal Party In Scotland	223	0.73 %
	Scottish Peoples Alliance	132	0.43 %	(+ 0.43 %)
	Adam Lyle's Witchery Tour Party	111	0.36 %
	UK Independence Party	120	0.39 %	(+ 0.39 %)
	Pro-Life Party	96	0.31 %	+ 0.00 %
	Mary Campbell (Independent)	67	0.22 %
	Alexander Scott (Independent)	19	0.06 %
	Peter Gatensbury (Independent)	6	0.02 %
	Labour majority	2,734	8.96 %	+ 5.99 %

6 th May 1999 Holyrood Election

Logo	Party	Candidate	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	Cllr Bristow Muldoon	17,313	47.34 %	- 7.55 %
	Scottish National Party	Greg McCarra	13,409	36.67 %	+ 9.21 %
	Conservative ∓ Unionist	Douglas Younger	3,014	8.24 %	- 1.16 %
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Oliver	2,834	7.75 %	+ 1.04 %
	Labour win	Labour majority	3,904	10.67 %	- 16.76 %

6 th May 1999 Holyrood Election - Regional list vote result

Logo	Party	Votes	%
	Labour	13,545	37.04 %
	Scottish National Party	12,457	34.07 %
	Conservative & Unionist Party	3,281	8.97 %
	Liberal Democrats	3,183	8.71 %
	Scottish Green Party	1,371	3.75 %
	Socialist Labour Party	1,366	3.74 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	574	1.57 %
	ProLife Alliance	113	0.31 %
	Natural Law Party	55	0.15 %
	Others: Liberal Party Witchery Tour Party Civil Rights Movement Braveheart Socialist Party of Great Britain Independent Voice for Scottish Parliament Independent Independent Anti-Corruption, Mobile Home Scandal, Roads (No breakdown available)	620	1.70 %
	Labour majority	1,088	2.97 %

1 st May 1997 Westminster Election

Logo	Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robin Cook	23,510	54.89 %
	Scottish National Party	Cllr Peter Johnston	11,763	27.46 %
	Conservative & Unionist	Hugh Craigie Halkett	4,028	9.40 %
	Liberal Democrat	Ewan Hawthorn	2,876	6.71 %
	Referendum	Helen Campbell	444	1.04%
	Socialist	Matt Culbert	213	0.50%
	Labour hold	Labour majority	11,747	27.43 %

Links

• Edinburgh & Lothians SNP